Cascade Mountain Ski Patrol

Hi everybody,
I hope all is well, and that you're all having a great summer.   Now however, it's time to start thinking about the upcoming ski season.  Please mark your calendars with the following dates.

• Instructor Refresher - Sunday September 28th
• Patrol Refresher - Saturday October 18th
• CPR re-cert & patrol room clean-up - Sunday October 19th
• Chair Evac refresher- various dates during December (sign-up @ refresher)

Please Note: There will be no special refreshers, if you can't make Cascade's refresher on the 18th, you will need to attend another refresher in our region.  Also, to attend the Instructor refresher you must be planning on helping at the Patrol refresher on the 18th.
After you have received the detail information from Doug, and you have questions, please contact Doug or myself.

See you soon.
Joe

Refresher Planning Meeting
The 2008 Refresher Planning Meeting will be September 04 at The Roadside Grill in Windsor, highway 19 at I90/94/39. We would like to start at 6:30.
Please reply to this email, I would like to know if you will attend, if you plan on instructing at the refresher and if you need to be observed at refresher.
Here is loose agenda for the Refresher Planning Meeting .

• Review and evaluate the 2007 refresher.
• Identify and document ideas for refresher improvement.
• Discuss 2008 refresher framework and topics.
• Assign topics to OEC instructors.
• Discuss station needs including equipment, patients and additional instructors.
• Less talk, more do in 2008!

The Refresher Planning Meeting is an essential part of a successful and enjoyable refresher for everyone and your input that really makes the difference.
It is critical that our refresher structure and content meets the standards and objectives defined by National Ski Patrol. I would encourage you to read the OEC Refresher Guide that you should have received in the mail. If you did not get one, contact me and I will get you a copy.

Instructor Refresher.
Our objective is to provide a quality refresher for all instructors and have an opportunity to fine tune for the big day!
Sunday September 28 starting at 9:00 am until completion at the hill. Be prepared as you would be for the hill refresher. You must have all materials, props, handouts, etc. ready for the instructor refresher so that all your instructor colleagues are properly refreshed. Additionally, this is a chance to identify issues with your station.

 

Hill Refresher Weekend Saturday, October 18 at Cascade Mountain.

• Absolutely no makeup refreshers. This policy is firm!
• Chair refresher will not be Sunday October 19th ,
• Sunday October 19th will be CPR re-cert and patrol room clean-up

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Contact us if you have questions or comments.
Doug Peters - IR    608-697-9701   or Ski.Patrol.Doug@verizon.net
Lynn Thornton - Assistant IR   608-429-2528  or lynnt@hughes.net

Just wanted to remind everyone about this Thursday night's night/self
evac. I haven't yet had the chance to check people off who were at the
refresher, but if you weren't, I assume you know that.

If you are planning on being there and haven't let me know, please do so,
so I can be sure to have enough instructors.

I plan on getting started right at 6 PM. We will either be using the
bunny lift or the north wall lift- depending on numbers.

A teaser- you just might see a slightly different way to rig the chair
that will prevent anyone from leaving the ground; with or without an
anchor person.

Sorry for not having been more dilligent about this, but there will be a
limited (like two or three) extra self evac rigs for people to try. If
you are interested in purchasing your own and haven't yet you will need a
figure eight, a locking carabiner, and either a harness or about 12 feet
of 1" climbing webbing, plus 150 ft. of at least 7 millimeter climbing
line. Again, if you haven't yet purchased this, it is much cheaper to
get online than a local store. I have enough for two or three to
practice/get certified on, on a first come/first serve basis.

Thanks, Keith

To confirm the letter sent this fall with the OEC refresher, our On-Hill Ski Proficiency Refreshers will start this Saturday December 8th.
 
The schedule is as follows:
Dec 8th: 9:30 and 10:30 AM for the Sat Day Shift
Dec 8th: 6 and 7 PM for the Sat Night Shift
Dec 9th: 9:30 and 10:30 AM for the Sun Day Shift
Dec 9th: 5:30 PM for the Sun Night Shift
Dec 10, 11, 12, 13, 14th: 10:30 AM for the week day shifts
Dec 10, 11, 12, 13, 14th: 6:30 PM for the week night shifts
 
Hopefully you will enjoy this short session and take advantage of it to gather some items to work on throughout the year.  As Tom Rabaglia mentioned in the last Sweep Newsletter, we are fortunate to have this opportunity and should take advantage of it to improve the most visible aspect of our daily duties.  Please be prepared, meet the instructor in front of the Patrol Room and have fun!
 
The toboggan refreshers will take place the week of the 15th.  You should have already signed up for one of these at the OEC refresher this fall.  If not, please contact Mary Woodman. 
 
If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me.
 
Regards,
Chad Lorensen

For any of the Instructors that are due to re-cert this year, and need to attend a Continuing ed class, there will be two in our area this fall.Thursday 10/4 @ The Grumpy Troll in Mt. Horeb starting at 6PM Contact -Thom RabagliaMonday 10/22 @ The Black Bear in Cottage Grove starting at 6PM Contact - Joe RileyJoe Rileyjjriley76@earthlink.net 

Hi everyone,I hope you all had a great summer. If it was anything like mine it was way too short.With the refresher only a week away there are a couple of things that I would like each of you to consider prior to the October 6th refresher.1.Shift sign-up and commitment- Because of issues in the past with crews being left short handed, due to patrollers not making their assigned shift and not finding a sub, we are enforcing our un excused absence policy this year. So please be prepared to sign-up to a shift that you know you can make each week. As in the past if you cannot make your shift, it's your responsibility to find a sub.Details of the policy changes will be given to each of you at the refresher. If you choose to change shifts from last year, you must talk to me first, before any changes can be made.2. Shifts needing help- Monday days, Tuesday days, Saturday nights, and Sunday nights are still in need of more help. If any patroller is willing to change to any of these times, it would really be appreciated.The instructors have a great refresher planned that is guaranteed to be challenging, but fun.I look forward to seeing each of you again, and if you have any questions for me prior to the refresher, please don't hesitate to drop me a note or call me at (608) 220-5086Joe Rileyjjriley76@earthlink.net 

Tieing knots can be very confusing, but this website has some great knot tieing examples and animations.  If you are feeling a little rusty, check out Animated Knots by Grog.  Here are some direct links to the knots we use at Cascade. Figure 8 Traceback Figure 8 Bowline Double Bowline (not on Grog's Site_ Fisherman's Knot Self-Evac "Hasty Webbing Harness"

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Hi everyone, I hope your summer is going well, it's hard to believe that it's almost Labor day.I just wanted to send out a reminder that this years refresher will be on October 6th & 7th, and to plan on two full days.  We will be training on some new pieces of equipment this year, along with the Cycle C contents. We will also be offering CPR after the Chair evac on Sunday for those of you that haven't re-certified elsewhere.Complete refresher information will be coming shortly, so for now enjoy the rest of your summer.

Hi everybody,I've had several inquires regarding CPR classes. We are planning to hold CPR re-certs on Sunday October 7th after the chair evac for anyone who wants it.  Please remember that NSP requires us to re-cert CPR skills each year.More will be coming out in a couple of weeks with your refresher information.  Thanks and enjoy the rest of your summer.Joe Riley